front suspension help

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Psychokinesis
Posts: 62
Joined: Tue Mar 18, 2014 10:45 pm

front suspension help

Post by Psychokinesis »

Fellow Stangers,

What have you done to improve the drivability of your fox body? My 93 Cobra is darting all over the place. I put skinnys on it this weekend, it drove great. Not a permanent thing though. Why is it that the fox bodies drive like crap with wider tires and yet other cars with even wider tires drives great, comparing my son’s 2003 terminator to my 93 Fox. I know ten year difference, but the platforms are similar. Being in the pacific northwest, these roads are very worn, so the roads (i5) have basically troughs in them, so I fight to keep the cobra in a particular lane. I had an 89 Fox, I changed the entire from end, K member (tubular) Control arms (tubular), coil overs, bump steer, caster plates, etc. It drove great, but do I have to do that to my Cobra to make it drive good? What are you thoughts?
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Z282SLO
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Location: NJ

Re: front suspension help

Post by Z282SLO »

Psychokinesis wrote:do I have to do that to my Cobra to make it drive good?
Generally, yes. Although you may not need to make all those changes.

Ford used a softer suspension set-up for the '93 Cobra than the GT/LX cars in an attempt to improve handling and provide a smoother ride, but there was only so much Ford could do with the Fox platform. IMO the factory suspension set-up on these cars was decent back in the day, but generally lacking if improved handling and driveability are your goals.

My Cobra's suspension has been upgraded with CC plates, adjustable front struts & rear shocks, rear axle dampers, and upper & lower rear control arms. I'm running factory size tires, and the car handles much better than stock with these upgrades.

You didn't mention chassis upgrades, but I would also highly recommend welded (not bolt-on) subframe connectors and a strut tower-cowl brace to address the weaknesses in the Fox platform.
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Tk1299
Posts: 59
Joined: Wed Jun 15, 2016 11:16 pm
Location: Houston, TX

Re: front suspension help

Post by Tk1299 »

I installed Koni shocks and struts, upper and lower control arms(very noticeable difference), CC plates and a good set of new springs. I have stock size up front and 275 width tires in the back. My car tracks straight and will throw me out of the window before losing it in a curve. If you have relatively low miles and/or your shocks don't need replacing then start with the upper and lower control arms. They stiffen the chassis very well
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Psychokinesis
Posts: 62
Joined: Tue Mar 18, 2014 10:45 pm

Re: front suspension help

Post by Psychokinesis »

My setup:
Stock K member, all bushings replaced, with k brace
Lowering springs
Kyb adjustable so all around
Bump steer kits
MM cc plates
Replaced both inner tire rod ends
Stock alignment specs
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